Jan 23, 2012

Feature Story: Consul General Julius Torres, Aloha to a Public Servant

by Aurelio Solver Agcaoili

[Consul General Julius Torres]

I
knew it would be tough getting a schedule to interview the new Consul General
Julius Deloso Torres in Hawaii.

He
had just arrived, and my request was too soon.

Even
when then Consul General LeoncioCardenas was about
to retire, I already wrote to Deputy Consul General Paul Cortez to ask for a
chance to sit down with the incoming consul general who would be coming from
Amman

He
was warming up and trying to get settled, and here I was, egging on, asking for
the moon, and asking for the impossible. He had out-of-state appointments, the
appointments secretary told me.

But
he was gracious, and in between my final examinations at the sate university
where I teach, I got an afternoon to sit down with him. I was to probe his mind.

[Aurelio S. Agcaoili and ConGen Julius Torres. Photo by Agcaoili]

I
arrived at the Philippine Consulate General on
Pali
Highway some ten minutes
earlier than the schedule, with an Observer staff photographer in tow.

There
was light rain on the streets. Towards the west, two rainbows displayed their
spectacular colors as if announcing to all those who would like to watch that in
the days ahead so many good things will come for the people of the
Philippines.

I
went straight to the main door, past the consular offices.

Not
far away, two men got out of a car.

I
have not met Consul General Torres before and I had no idea how he looked like.
One of the men wore a green long-sleeved barong, the verdant color of life. I
knew right there and then that he is the new consul general.

“Are
you coming for the interview?” he asks.

“Yes,
sir,” I respond. “I have a schedule with the new consul general. At two.”

“You
came on time,” he says. “We just had lunch.” He offers his hand.

“Thank
you for giving in to my request,” I say and I shake hands with him.

He
lets us in into a huge receiving room by the first floor of the consulate
general. A portrait of President BenignoAquinoIII hangs on
a wall that leads to another inner room that I have become familiar with because
of a previous media briefing I had to attend prior to the Asia Pacific Economic
Conference in November.

From
a stint at the Philippine Embassy in
Jordan as the
ambassador for about three years, Consul General Julius Torres comes to us with
a fresh vision of what it is to serve the people of the
Philippines
everywhere.

His
more than thirty years of career service with the Department of Foreign Affairs
plus a hands-on experience as press officer of the late Foreign Affairs
Secretary Carlos P. Romulo have prepared him to go
where his service is needed.

He
has been all over, with postings in a number of embassies:
Bucharest,
Saipan,
Brussels,
Canberra, Koror, and
Toronto. His
degree in journalism and his training in civil law, both at the University of
the Philippines, came in handy in his various posting, able to merge both the
requisites of diplomacy and the need to take good care of Filipino citizens in
these places of assignment.

He
did not plan to become a career diplomat.

Fate
had it that he would become one when, at the height of his activism during the
now famous First Quarter Storm, a time when the basic rights of people existed
as a fiction during the dark days of Martial Law, he resolved not to give in to
the temptations of becoming a factotum of big business, the economic structure
that has closed all avenues to giving a fair chance to the people of the
Philippines.

He
understood the meaning of capital, and the need to put in place the economic
infrastructure of the Philippines state.

But
he did not approve the unjust ways of exploitation and dehumanization, concrete
realities he himself had seen as a young student of Philippine Science High
School where he received his initiation into the just cause of fighting for the
basic rights of the people.

Instead,
he vowed to serve the people by going into public service.

There
are a number of things that are clear to him—and one of these is that his
service to the people of the Philippines would
never be negotiable.

It
is a commitment wrought in stone.

It
is a commitment wrought upon realizing full well that the need to create a just
and fair society for the people of the
Philippines remains
an ideal worth pursuing.

This
was to be his motive for going into public service, for joining the diplomatic
corps.

He
came from a town in Zambales that spoke Zambal and Ilokano.

But
it is Zambal that stuck to him, with some ability to
converse in Ilokano when forced, but not confident
enough to carry a good conversation. It is in Zambal
that he is most at home with, the language of his family, the language of his
place, the language of his people.

He
knows of the importance to picking up the Ilokano
language to serve the majority of the Philippine population in this state.

He
says he is looking for someone who could teach him the rudiments of good, and
effective, Ilokano. He says he is ready to learn.

From
PSHS, he moved to the University of the
Philippines at Diliman, and there registered for the sciences, in
chemistry, for his bachelor’s.

But
activism had its own energy in those days of disquiet in the late 70s, when life
was snuffed out from the minds of the young people looking for a chance to
contribute their talents and gifts for the homeland.

The
dark night of misrule raged on, and its own rage got into his young heart.

He
began to speak the language of social change, of democracy that had substance,
of liberty that spoke of the good life for everyone.

Awakened
to the realities of an indecent regime with its indecent, abusive ways, he
resolved to take part in the struggle, for which reason forced him to drop out
of school for a time and take part in activism in a more meaningful way. It
would take him several years before going back to college, and finish his degree
in journalism, instead of chemistry.

Journalism
and its emancipatory promises led him to the doorstep
of then Foreign Affairs Secretary Carlos P. Romulo.

There,
he would be trained in the rudiments of writing, public relations, and public
administration.

It
would also open his eyes to the possibilities of a government
service.

He
took the Foreign Service examinations while in law school, and he passed. That was to be the beginning of his
work in international relations and the end of his dream of becoming a lawyer.

We
exchanged notes on our experiences.

There
were serendipitous circumstances that led to the crossing of our
paths.

While
a faculty at the University of the
Philippines at Diliman, I had my office fronting the avenue that was used
to film Ruben Torres’ life.

The
film, Kadre, would star Cesar Montano, and I watched
the shooting from my window, curious as to how they used fire trucks to simulate
rain dripping from the dense branches of rain trees that formed a canopy along
the oval that stretched from the famous naked man in oblation by the
administration building and back to University
Avenue.

Julius
D. Torres the consul general is the younger brother of Ka Ruben, the famous
kadre.

The
older brother is known for his earlier activism, and for the political
leadership that he played during the early days of the Aquino Regime, right after President Marcos’ ouster from
power.

I
did not know the connection before that—and the serendipity began.

We
talked of the FQS, when I was still in the province as a mute witness to the
political activism of those priests and college students of the better colleges
of my small city in the North.

The
governor, Elizabeth Marcos, would paint the walls enclosing the capitol in
pristine white. When the police people were not looking, the activists would
turn the while walls into a canvass of rage and denunciation, the big words, in
red paint, I would memorize.

“You
were involved?” I ask.

“Only
the deaf and mute would not be involved.”

“Were
you afraid?”

“We
were. But there was no other choice.”

“Do
you regret?”

“No.
My only regret is that I had to go back to UP to finish my degree. Nine years
before getting my degree.”

“Is
this activism the same energy we expect in
Hawaii?”

“It
is. And more. My stint in
Jordan taught me
valuable lessons. I had to fight for our people. I had to fight the people who
were not in the know. Our people’s right to live the good life is non-negotiable
to me. You cannot just simply say that we have to stop deploying our people. We
do not have many options in the
Philippines. And even
if we officially say that, our people would figure out a way to go to
Jordan
illegally. In that way, they are at the losing end. In that way, there was no
means to protect them. The best option is to negotiate with
Jordan. And I
did.”

“What
is your view of our foreign affairs?”

“We
ought to have a lean and mean bureaucracy. And an efficient
one. We want trained professionals who know the merits of
multi-tasking.”

“If
you were offered the job of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, would you
accept?”

“I
would do anything to serve our people.”

We
talked more about our people, the prospects for a better homeland, the blighted lives of our wretched poor.

And
we talked about the Ilokanos in
Hawaii, their
enduring spirit, and their capacity to
survive.

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New Hours for County Immigrant Services

WAILUKU – Effective April 1st, the County of Maui Immigrant Services Division announced its new office hours.
In addition, the division will be re-opening its Lahaina office starting this month.
The new hours for the following offices are:
Wailuku
Monday-Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Friday 8:00 a.m. to Noon
Molokai
Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Lanai
Monday and Wednesday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Friday 8:00 am-12:00 noon
Lahaina
First Thursday of every month from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
For more information call 270-7791.